I received a box of 8 starlings in the mail from a fellow taxidermist with a trigger-happy son. Starlings can be a real pest to anyone occupying vast spreads of land so it's not generally frowned upon to assist in population control, so to speak.
He barely charged me anything for the birds (the shipping cost exceeded the bird quote) so I'm comfortable experimenting with them. I decided to try dying the skin of one, to eliminate the white/brown spots and create a completely black little bird.
The process was kind of trial and error, but I think I've come up with a successful way to alter the color of the bird without compromising the preservation. What excited me the most was not only the success in eliminating spots, but the way the iridescence was really brought out.
Oh! And more good news. Much to the ease of my conscious, I have discovered that starlings are not only edible but revered as quite delicious. It's said that black bird pie was actually made with their smaller and spotted relatives. So far I've ony found one recipe online but it looks good to me:
Starling stew with olives
A recipe from Calvin Schwabe's "Unmentionable Cuisine."
Animals: Love them or hate them, we also eat them. And nothing better illustrates just how many of them we eat (and how thoroughly) than Calvin Schwabe's giant compendium of recipes from every corner of the world, excerpts of which are appearing in Salon this week, Monday through Friday -- one recipe each day on the Life and People sites -- by kind permission of the University Press of Virginia. This one comes from Turkey where it's known as "Karatavuk yahnisi."
"Fry some chopped turnips and carrots. Add a little stock and a glass of red wine. Place some starlings or other small birds in the pan. Add a thin purée of boiled potatoes mashed with beaten eggs, dry mustard, and some stock and a little beer. Cover with stock and cook for about 30 minutes, adding some ripe olives near the end."
Perhaps this will be a dish for Easter. Stay tuned!
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